You finally broke free — but why does it still feel so hard to breathe?
In this episode, Christy Jade breaks down what no one tells you about life after the trauma bond.

If you’ve ever caught yourself craving the chaos, feeling pulled to respond to that text, or getting triggered by their name — even though you know they’re toxic — this one’s for you.

You’re not weak. You’re not “going backward.”
You’re experiencing what Christy calls the trauma bond hangover — that emotional, mental, and physical crash that happens when your body is detoxing from dysfunction.

✨ Ready to rebuild your peace, power, and self-trust after narcissistic abuse?
Explore Christy’s most transformative programs below:

🌸 Empowered Boundaries Course
Learn how to set boundaries that actually stick — without the guilt spiral. Includes 10 video modules, a meditation bundle, and lifetime access.
→ https://shethrives.thrivecart.com/empowered-boundaries/

💖 1:1 Coaching + Somatic Healing
Reclaim your peace, power, and clarity in a private, guided journey with Christy. This is where REAL customized transformation is made!
→ https://shethrives.thrivecart.com/transformational-coaching-quarterly/

✨ Grab your FREE Boundaries Pocket Guide → https://christyjade.ck.page/ce79ea9250
✨ Join the FREE Facebook Community for daily support + sisterhood → https://www.facebook.com/groups/christyjade
✨ Snag your Copy-Paste-Peace Scripts for boundary convos that actually work → https://shethrives.thrivecart.com/copy-paste-peace-fast-37/

• Why guilt spikes when a toxic parent gets older or sick

• The truth about “honoring your parents” — and what that really looks like in abuse recovery

• How to stop confusing compassion with obligation

• Nervous system tools to stay grounded when guilt-tripping starts

• Christy’s personal reflection on balancing empathy with self-care

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TRANSCRIPT Speaker 1 (00:00):
Alright, so you finally got out, you blocked, deleted. Maybe you even changed your number. So why does it still feel like you've been hit by a damn emotional freight train? Today we're going to talk about the part no one really warns you about the trauma bond hangover, the weird, awful mix of craving the chaos, feeling that pull to check their page or getting instantly triggered when their name pops up on your phone. I know that one, even when you know they're toxic, your body's still wired to respond like it is life or death. So you're not weak, you're healing from an emotional addiction. So we're going to talk about what is really going on underneath and how to help calm that nervous system so you can finally actually start to feel free.

(00:53)
Have you finally broken free from that narcissist creepy crawly web, but still feel stuck in fear. Wish you could trust yourself again and take your life back. Well, you're in the right place, queen. I'm Christie, wife, mom and narcissistic abuse recovery coach. I've walked the messy road, wasted money on the wrong therapist and dry advice and how to come to Jesus moment to get me here to feel free. I had to reconnect with me, set boundaries that stuck and find healing methods that actually lasted. Now I've created a plan that's empowering, doable, and yes, even fun because I'm sparkly and fun. So of course it's going to be fun. So if you're ready to break cycles, reclaim your peace and trust yourself again, this podcast is for you. So steep, that chamomile tea, silence, all that crazy chaos out there and let's cue your royal glow up.

(01:51)
Okay, queen, let's be honest, nobody really talks about this part. Everyone cheers you on when you're finally leaving the narcissist. You did it, you're free. I hated that mofo. But what happens when freedom doesn't just immediately feel peaceful? You may think you're going to get this huge relief and you may get some, but you expected more and it could be years later and you could still be stuck in feeling that lack of peace. So what happens when your brain keeps checking for danger or your body jolts every time you see their name, you're out of the relationship technically, but it still feels like they are living rent free in your damn head. That is the trauma bond hangover. And if you're in it, oh honey, I get it. I have been there. It is not a fun place. It is not a fun carnival and we want to help you get out.

(02:42)
Okay, so I first, what is the trauma bond hangover? It is what happens when your body is still addicted to the roller coaster even though you've stepped off the ride. That's what we talk about somatic healing that I do with my clients. That's why we do that body work because your body is still stuck. So your brain was trained literally to associate chaos with connection, okay? Every love bomb, every cruel text, every silent treatment created these chemical spikes and crashes all about the rollercoaster, the dopamine, cortisol, all of it out of balance. So now when you try to rest, your nervous system doesn't know what to do. It's like what? Where's the next hit? Where's the next crisis? It's not that you miss them. Technically you miss the chemical storm or you get pulled in because it's so familiar. So it's not like, yes, you're not laying there going, God, I miss being sucked in the drama and I miss those highs and lows.

(03:53)
You're not like consciously sitting there thinking about that, but your body is responding and it responds to what's comfortable. So if you get that jolt and your body goes, oh, this is comfortable, I'm getting that pang of fear that I see when I see this person's name, because when you lived with them and let's say they were physically abusive to you, even mentally abusive, it's all abuse. When you were dealing with it on a more intimate level, your body responded in a way, kind of like a survival mode way, and now your body is still stuck in that. It's having that same trigger and the same addiction technically. So your body, I don't want to say you miss the chemical storm, but your body misses. It became dependent on it, and your brain mistakes that storm for love because that's what it learned. I want to go say that's what it was conditioned for by your lovely narc.

(04:54)
Okay, so let's be real. Trauma bonds do not dissolve the moment you block someone. That's just not how it works. Your body has to unlearn survival mode, and that's why we love somatic healing. But why does the healing feel harder than the leaving? So leaving takes adrenaline, okay, you're in action mode. You pack your things, you make a plan, you move. Healing is when you're away, maybe not completely away, but you're physically away in that daily sense, right? The more frequent being with this person, and that's when the silence hits. So that adrenaline fades and emotions rush in. It kind of reminds me of if you're, let's say caring for a very sick parent and you have adrenaline, you're taking them to the doctors, you are having a lot of immediate emotions worrying. Are they going to get so sick they pass, or is this the time I've gone through this myself?

(06:04)
So I'm just comparing something that feels a little similar to me, right? It's all this adrenaline, it's what your body does in survival mode and to focus. You're talking to doctors, you're making things happen, getting the images from the hospital, doing all this. You're in go, go, go mode. And when they pass, there is a span of time where yes, that adrenaline continues. You're making the calls, you're talking people, you're hosting people, you're arranging, making all the arrangements. And then they say, always check on your friends. A few weeks after someone, a parent or someone close, whatever has passed, because that's when the silence trickles in. That's when the people aren't around as much and the adrenaline calms and you are with your thoughts and your fears and everything in silence, and the emotions can really rush in. Then so you start feeling everything you stuff down to basically survive, and that's when the cravings come.

(07:17)
So the urge is to text, to peek at their profile even if you don't want to be back with them, and maybe you do, maybe you're in a place where you're questioning, did I make a mistake? I know that that can happen especially immediately after, but let's say you're further down the journey and you're like, hell no, I don't want to go back to that. But you still find yourself rereading their text messages, analyzing, talking to your friends about it, and even if you know they're baiting you, even if you know they haven't changed, you still do these things. Your body is saying, this silence feels unsafe. So you are at war. Your heart, your brain, your body, they're having different stories. Go on because for so long, chaos felt like home chaos felt like home, and I'm so glad it's not your home baby girl.

(08:13)
But your body's still feeling like that. It's still comfortable with that. You might get triggered by the tiniest things, a song, a smell, a message, and this could be a nostalgic feeling or it could trigger you, and you get mad when you think about that person. I'm not saying it has to be one specific emotion, but it can trigger any emotions. Maybe you feel a buzzing under your skin like you're waiting for something bad to happen, right? That's not weakness. That is your nervous system trying to find the new normal. Like I said, it does not happen overnight. So how do we get through this hangover without taking their bait, without texting them back or losing our damn marbles? So we have to talk a little strategy. It can feel impossible if you don't understand what's happening. Your brain can just fire all over with all the different ideas and let me try to be the nice guy.

(09:17)
Let me yell back at them, right? There's all these different ideas that spiral and you spiral and you spiral. So step one, don't spiral. Don't ground, okay? When the urge hits to take any kind, ofit, any kind of debate, I don't think that was good English there, but right to respond, to check, to fix, pause and breathe. Look around the room. You might've heard me talk about this before, but it's a simple thing you can do with your kindergartners so you can do it. We keep these things simple because when your brain's in overdrive like that, you need simple. Okay? So you might be like, Christie, you sound like you're talking to a five-year-old. I have to, okay, so you name five things you can see, just look around. Okay, I'm going to do it right now. So I'm pumped up. Even just from talking on podcast, getting passionate, thinking about right.

(10:13)
Watch me calm down in a few seconds. Okay? I see a beautiful pearl necklace, I see beautiful roses. Oh, I see my palm tree bag. That immediately gives me peace. I am a palm tree obsessed woman. My rose gold brush that makes me happy and oh, a fuzzy flamingo pen. Now you know what weird shit I have on my house, but I feel my body already, just my nervous systems rebalancing. So that's what you do. Look around, name five things and then say, I'm safe right now. It sounds simple, but it tells your body you are not in danger anymore. All right? Now step two, move the energy out. You can shake your body, right? Shake your legs, shake your arms, shake your body line. I have a flamingo theme going on today. I have a flamingo, I don't know, stuffed animal thing that you press a button and it dances and sings and it sings that.

(11:24)
Shake your body line, work, work, do it all the time. Something like that, and it just reminds me of that. Alright? I'm having a lot of a DD moments today. So you shake your body line, you walk, you stretch, whatever helps your body release those chemicals that are pumping from the stress cycle, okay? You're not just healing from your heart, you are retraining your nervous system. It's a whole system, okay? It's got a lot involved in step three, create a response plan for your triggers, right? I talked about those triggers that pop up. Write out what you'll do. I'm a pen to paper, girl, forget digital. Get yourself a planner or not planner a journal, do a planner too. I'm big on paper planners, but for this, a journal where you start writing some stuff down your affirmations, all the good stuff, but you could write down what you'll do when that text comes through or when you feel tempted to peek at something or a trigger comes just in general.

(12:32)
So you can write it down. If they text me, I will screenshot it. Block and walk outside because you want to have evidence. I will say that keep all your evidence so you can screenshot it, block it, say I'll deal with it later and don't deal with it later. If you don't have to, you can block them momentarily. I know with co-parenting it's tough if you are allowed to block them permanently, block 'em permanently. If not, block it for a few moments. Go take a walk, and then if I get triggered, I'll do my grounding routine instead of reacting. So we're training ourselves, right? We're training ourselves. So we're writing pen to paper. If this happens, I'm doing this. We have a plan. We have to have a plan because you are just floating out there like a crazy old balloon in the wind and you need to get grounded.

(13:24)
You need a plan to get grounded. So whatever works for you, you're creating a pause between trigger and action. We don't want that initial action to happen taking the bait and it will just not just affect you, but it will get them to engage with you more and more. You know how it works. You've been doing this. They love you to engage, they love you to take the bait and they thrive off the chaos. Don't give it to 'em. Another question, you can write down, what is the most peaceful thing I could do right now? Guess what? It's not responding. It's not spiraling, right? It's going and taking a walk. It's looking for five things in the room. It's making a lovely chocolate milkshake you deserve. And step four, fill the void with real connection. You cannot detox from chaos and isolation. You were probably in a very isolated place while you, you're with them.

(14:24)
Most are very controlling. Try to keep you from the people that matter in your life. So you are free from that now, right? And you were wired for survival and you did whatever it took to stay alive in that relationship, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. And now you're learning what peace feels like. And it may feel weird at first me, it did. Hell yeah, it did. It's quiet, it's steady, it's predictable. If you make it that way, I'm a God person. So now to me, peace and joy is predictable because God wants me to have that every day. That's a whole other episode, but it's not exciting, like chaos. You miss the excitement. Your body may miss all those dopamine hits, but it's safe. And our goal is peace and safety now. So every time you choose not to respond, not to check, not to spiral, you're teaching your body that peace is the new normal and we love that it looks way better on you.

(15:30)
I'll be honest than your chaos face. Nobody wants a chaos face. Should I make T-shirts with that? You're rewiring your heart from this fake love to true safety. So when that ache hits that urge to reach out or the trigger that just that visceral reaction it causes, remind yourself this is not a sign to go back, it's a sign. I'm just healing. My body's getting used to the new normal. It's not going to feel peace overnight. It's not going to feel calm overnight, but with some tools and I got plenty more tools and if you do one-on-one work with me. I always put the links, how to work with me in the show notes, one-on-one work we do. Customized definitely more than just looking around at five objects though that can help. We do a lot of deep, deep inner work to undo the damage and to retrain your brain and God's there with you in the stillness, right?

(16:28)
Helping you rewire for real love, real peace and the real stuff, right? And freedom. Imagine what it would feel like if three months from now you barely remember what it was like to feel triggered every time you saw the phone ring, every time that you didn't know what to do or how to respond. You didn't know why they were doing this, saying this. You were terrified that your kids think you're the devil. Imagine if you could have a calm nervous system, what that would feel like. So I have a three month program. There is I think one opening left for ongoing three month, my three month program. I can only take a certain amount of those. That's some intense she is. We do mindset and somatic healing and that you got to show up to. I am not taking clients who are not committed to doing once a week work.

(17:34)
That's a waste of time because if you're spending the money that you spend to do three months, you need to be showing up and that's where the transformation happens. Not showing up once and then a month and a half later like, Hey, oh, I signed up for my next, no, we do weekly calls and you get me on Voxer, which is like a walkie talkie app. Once a day I will chat with you, answer any questions, give you motivation, whatever you need in between those other calls. So you get this really fun feature when you sign up for three month. Okay? So check that out in my show notes. And if you're in this hangover phase, you feel in the pull the triggers. I also have Empowered Boundaries course. That's like a self-led thing. I will say the transformation you get on the three month one-on-one is much deeper, much longer lasting.

(18:32)
But the Empowered Boundaries course is great for people who maybe aren't ready for that level yet, but want to start setting boundaries and doing a little of that energetic work. So that I will also put in my show notes and there is the Free Boundaries Pocket guide, which if you have not grabbed that, that's always there too. Alright? And remember, Thursday is Thrive in five. So that's always related to my Tuesday episode. So we will have a usually the somatic type thing or even maybe a motivational mini episode directly correlated to Tuesday's episode. So this week it will be related to this lovely trauma bond hangover. Okay? All right, and you guys have a great day, great week. You look amazing today. Go look at yourself. I want you to look in the mirror today. I want you to say I'm a damn queen and I look good.

(19:35)
Yeah, you got to say it just like that too, because it's half the meaning. If you don't give it that sassy azzy, you are, you're a damn queen. I will see you in the next one on Thursday. Don't forget to make sure you're following my podcast wherever you're listening, just go to my main show and hit follow or subscribe. I don't know what it says. Some little button somewhere so that you don't miss me. I'm here twice a week just waiting to hang out. So you don't want to miss that, do you? No. All right. Love you Smooches Bye.